Chance Encounter of the Best Kind
by itsamelia
Summary: Aria and Ezra have a chance encounter three years after they split up. One Shot.


Chance Encounter of the Best Kind

* * *

"Can I get a vodka soda please?" Aria asked as she jumped up onto the barstool in the almost empty NYC bar.

The lone bartender looked up from his crossword puzzle and raised his eyebrows. "You got ID?" he asked.

Aria sighed and reached into the purse she'd just placed on the counter and pulled out the fake ID that Hanna had gotten for her a few years earlier. At just 20 years old Aria was still too young to legally buy alcohol.

The bartender looked at the ID and then back at Aria he raised his eyebrows slightly and smirked before handing it back to Aria.

"Vodka soda was it?" he asked.

Aria nodded and slipped the ID back into her purse.

Solo drinking wasn't something that Aria made a habit of, but tonight she felt that alcohol was the only way to forget the disastrous first date she'd been on earlier that evening.

An hour, six vodkas and three fireball shots later Aria decided that maybe she should head home.

She'd just knocked back her remaining fireball when someone spoke to her.

"Are you alright down there?"

Aria smiled and placed the shot glass onto the bar in front of her, she'd know that voice anywhere. She turned to face the person and sure enough sitting one stool away was none other than Ezra Fitz.

Aria's smile grew even wider, "Should I lie and say I'm a little jet lagged?" she asked with a chuckle.

Ezra laughed too and slid onto the stool next to her, "It's good to see you Aria," he replied.

Aria nodded, "Yeah, it's good to see you too."

"So why are you here?" Ezra asked.

Aria shook her head, "I'm trying to forget a bad date," she chuckled. "What about you?"

"I'm visiting my mom," Ezra replied. "I need to escape for a few hours and this place seemed as good as any. Were you leaving or can I get you another drink?"

Aria smiled, "Sure," she replied lifting her glass. "I'll have another one of these."

Ezra ordered another two shots for Aria and a whiskey for himself.

With the bartenders attention elsewhere Aria leaned towards him. "Are you sure you should be encouraging underage drinking Mr Fitz?" she whispered.

Ezra chuckled, "I'd be a hypocrite if I stopped you," he whispered back. "I did my fair share of drinking in college."

The bartender placed their drinks on the bar in front of them and sat back at the far end of the bar, his eyes drawn back to his crossword.

"So," Ezra said. "How's school?"

Aria shook her head gently, "You're really going to ask me how school is? God Mr Fitz you're such a teacher."

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

Aria smiled and leaned towards him slightly, "You were always my favourite," she replied with a hint of flirtation in her voice.

Ezra chuckled and nodded his head; "Likewise," he took a sip of his drink and looked back toward Aria. "Why was your date so bad?"

Aria shook her head, "The guy was an asshole," she replied. "He was making sexual comments from the second we sat down for dinner and made it obvious that he thought he'd be going home with me afterwards."

Ezra took a big gulp of his whiskey, coughing slightly as the liquid burnt the back of his throat.

Aria smiled, "I told him I was going the bathroom and left him there."

"He doesn't know where you live does he?" Ezra asked his voice full of concern.

"No," Aria replied shaking her head. "I always meet my dates elsewhere."

Ezra nodded, "And…um," he stuttered. "Have there been many… um… dates?"

Aria smirked, "Why? Are you jealous?" she asked. "No, there haven't been many dates. I haven't been in a relationship since Jake."

Ezra clenched his jaw; even though Aria's relationship with her self- defence tutor Jake had been brief he'd seethed with jealousy every single time he saw them out on dates around Rosewood.

"What about you?" Aria asked, she knocked back her second shot and looked at Ezra. "How's Charlotte?"

Ezra shrugged, "Okay."

"You're getting married in two weeks," Aria replied with a hint of sadness. "How can things just be okay?"

Ezra shook his head, "Things are good," he replied. "Just last minute jitters."

Aria's fingers toyed with the shot glass in her hands and she nervously licked her lips. "Do you ever wonder where we would be if things had happened differently?" she asked.

"All the time," Ezra responded honestly.

* * *

_FLASHBACK_

_"Hey," Ezra said as he took a seat on the bench next to Aria. "Is everything okay?" _

_He placed his arm around her and gently rubbed her back._

_Aria looked at him sadly, "Why didn't you tell me that they offered you the job?"_

_"Because I don't think I'm going to take it," Ezra replied. "And I didn't think that you should share in the burden of that decision."_

_"You need a job Ezra."_

_"Yeah, but you know what would happen to us if I end up back at Rosewood? Things are different now, people know about us."_

_Aria started to cry._

_"Hey," Ezra said. "Don't cry, don't cry. We're okay."_

_"No we're not," Aria replied her distress increasing. "Nothing about us feels right anymore."_

_Ezra sighed, "I'm sorry."_

_"It's not your fault."_

_"I wanna fix this."_

_"I know," Aria replied sadly. "I know, but you can't okay. We've been chasing after what we used to have ever since you found out about Malcolm but ….I just don't …. I don't think that we can ever get that back."_

_"Things, things aren't easy but they can still be good." Ezra replied unable to hide his emotions._

_"It shouldn't be this hard," Aria said her eyes filling with more tears._

_"If you're not happy anymore…You know that's what matters to me."_

_"Hey," Aria replied. "I love you just as much as I always have and that's why I want you to take this job."_

_Aria stood up and started to walk away but Ezra gently grabbed her hand._

_"Aria, wait, wait. I love you."_

_Aria pulled her hand away and continued to walk away leaving Ezra sitting on the bench alone._

* * *

"I have to pee," Aria announced. "I'll be right back."

Ezra nodded and gave her a lob sided grin, "I'll be right here."

Aria wobbled slightly as she stepped off the bar stool, and chuckled as she felt Ezra's strong hands reach out to steady her.

Aria looked up towards his face to thank him for stopping her from falling on her ass, her eyes darted to his lips and she leaned forward and pressed her own against them.

"Oh shit," she said as she quickly pulled away. "I'm sorry."

Suddenly Ezra was kissing her back; Aria opened her mouth and moaned when she felt Ezra's tongue slip inside.

There was a part of Ezra's brain that was screaming at him to stop, yelling at him that he had a fiancée and that maybe this wasn't smart. But Aria's cinnamon flavoured lips were intoxicating and the feeling of them moving against his so erotically felt too good.

Soon hands were touching once incredibly familiar territory on each other's bodies and neither of them even considered stopping, they were far too consumed by the lust that had been simmering under the surface since they'd broken up three years earlier.

Ezra pulled his lips away from Aria's, "Want to get out of here?" he asked breathlessly.

Aria took a few shaky breaths and nodded her head.

She picked her purse up from the bar and grabbed Ezra's outstretched hand and they quickly walked outside into the crisp New York air.

* * *

Aria fumbled around in her purse for the keys to her small studio apartment, which wasn't easy due to the fact that Ezra's lips were firmly attached to her neck.

"Mmmmm, Ezra," Aria moaned as his lips lingered over a particularly sensitive spot. "We should get inside."

Ezra nodded but didn't stop what he was doing.

Aria chuckled, "Getting inside requires me opening the door and I can't do that when you're doing _that_."

Ezra laughed and pulled away, "Sorry," he whispered his lips brushing against Aria's ear. He took the keys from her hand and opened the door. "Does that help?" he asked.

Aria's only response was to push him inside and kiss him.

Ezra pushed the door shut and pressed Aria against it.

It was a position that they had found themselves in many times before and Aria instinctively jumped up and wrapped her legs around Ezra's waist.

Ezra's hands skimmed over her curvy waist before settling on her firm ass.

Aria pulled her lips away from Ezra's; she rested her forehead against his and took a few deep breaths before slowly unbuttoning the shirt he was wearing.

Ezra found the zipper on the back of Aria's dress and tugged it down; he placed her on the floor and watched as she pulled her dress down allowing it to pool around her feet.

"You're wearing too many clothes," Aria whispered huskily as she pushed his shirt off his shoulders. Ezra removed his own pants and they both stared at each other for a few seconds before resuming kissing. Ezra lifted Aria up with ease and carried her over to the bed he spotted in the corner of the room.

The two former lovers spent the night getting reacquainted with each other's bodies.

The following morning should have been awkward, but instead they went for brunch caught up fully on each other's lives, shared a few chaste kisses and finally went their separate ways.

* * *

Rosewood – two weeks later.

Aria stared at the church in her rear view mirror; she had been sitting outside in her car for the last twenty minutes debating whether or not to go inside and cursing herself for thinking coming to Rosewood in the first place had been a good idea.

She needed to see him move on to the next chapter in his life so that she could finally move on with hers.

She watched as the last few remaining guests went inside and stepped out of her car, she planned to sneak inside and sit at the back where nobody would see her then once the ceremony began she would slip out unnoticed.

The small church was full, and with no remaining seats Aria stood at the back near to a pillar trying to look as inconspicuous as possible.

Ezra was stood at the front of the church, his were hands shoved in his pockets and his was fidgeting nervously.

Aria smiled, he looked so handsome and she couldn't help but imagine that it was _their _wedding and that she was the person he was waiting for.

Ezra looked around the church; most of the guests were friends of Charlotte's. There were few acquaintances from work, his college friend Hardy was his best man and his younger brother Wesley was a groomsman and his mom Dianne was sitting proudly in the front row.

But it was the tiny, gorgeous brunette who was trying to be invisible at the back of the church that Ezra's eyes lingered on.

Almost as if she knew he was looking at her Aria lifted her head and their eyes met.

Suddenly the sound of the wedding march could be heard and all the guests stood up in anticipation.

Ezra watched as Aria slinked even further behind the pillar, he knew he should be looking at his wife to be but he couldn't seem to tear his gaze away.

The murmuring of the crowd made him look towards Charlotte but all he could think about was Aria.

Suddenly he saw her dart out from behind the pillar and rush out of the church.

Aria opened the trunk of the car and threw her heels inside; she'd been stupid to come here. It hadn't helped her at all, it had only made her realise how much she wished it was _her_ who Ezra was waiting for at the altar.

She slammed the trunk shut and was just about to get in her car and drive away when she heard it.

"ARIA."

She turned towards the sound and saw Ezra running towards her, he lifted her into his arms and kissed her hungrily.

New York – three weeks later.

Aria put her phone on speaker and placed it on the counter in her tiny kitchen.

"_Did you hear about Ezra?" _Hanna asked. _"He's the talk of Rosewood, my mom told me he left his bride at the altar, quit his job and left town."_

She was about to reply when the door to the apartment opened and Ezra walked in brandishing a bag from the bakery down the block.

_"Nobody knows where he is or why he did it."_

Ezra brushed his lips against Aria's and smiled.

"Actually…" Aria replied her eyes now firmly on the gorgeous man in her kitchen. "I may know something about that."

_"WHAT?" _Hanna shouted. "_What do you mean?"_

Aria chuckled and watched as Ezra lifted two slices of key lime pie out of the bag and placed them both onto a plate.

"Are you sitting down?" Aria asked.

_"Aria Montgomery," _Hanna screamed down the phone. _"What are you hiding?"_

"Actually," Aria replied. "It's Aria Fitz now."

She chuckled as she heard a thud and she knew Hanna had dropped her phone. "Hanna I have to go, my husband just got home with pie. I'll call you later."

She disconnected the call and walked over to Ezra.

"Why pie?" she asked as she dipped her finger into one of the slices.

"Why not pie?" Ezra asked, he reached over and wiped a bit of cream from Aria's lip and the pie was forgotten.

* * *

**Please review :)**

**I haven't forgotten my other stories, I am actively working on them as I type.**


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